Two Reds among leaders in All-Star Game voting

Castellanos, Winker on their way to becoming first-time All-Stars

Credit: David Jablonski

Credit: David Jablonski

Only five pair of teammates from the same outfield have been voted into the National League’s starting lineup for the All-Star Game.

Nick Castellanos and Jesse Winker, of the Cincinnati Reds, could become the sixth. They rank second and third among NL outfielders with 568,758 and 462,692 All-Star votes, respectively. Ronald Acuña Jr., of the Braves, leads the outfielders and all NL players with 834,287 votes.

The first voting results were released Monday. The first phase of voting continues until 4 p.m. June 24 at which point the top three vote getters at each position and the top nine outfielders will advance to the second phase of voting. Voting totals will reset at that point, and fans can vote only on the players who have advanced. That phase of the voting will conclude at 2 p.m. July 1. The rosters and starters will be announced July 4.

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The 91st Midsummer Classic will take place July 13 at Coors Field in Denver.

Castellanos (.361) and Winker (.344) rank first and second in baseball in batting average. Both of them would be first-time All-Stars. They are two of six Reds who appear among the voting leaders. Others in the top 10 are: third baseman Mike Moustakas (eighth); catcher Tucker Barnhart (ninth); shortstop Eugenio Suarez (ninth); first baseman Joey Votto (10th).

A pair of National League teammates hasn’t started the All-Star Game together in the outfield since 2008 when Alfonso Soriano and Kosuke Fukudome, of the Cubs, earned the honor. Other outfield combos to start were: Pittsburgh’s Barry Bonds and Andy Van Slyke in 1992 and 1993; Montreal’s Andre Dawson and Tim Raines in 1982 and 1983; Pittsburgh’s Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell in 1972; and Atlanta’s Hank Aaron and Rico Carty in 1970.

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